HOLLY FAMILY 149 
4. R. Toxicodendron L. Porson Vine, Porson Ivy, Mercury, 
Brack Mercury... Stem a woody vine climbing high by aérial root- 
lets, or sometimes short and erect. Leaves petioled, of 3 leaflets, 
downy; leaflets ovate or oval, taper-pointed, entire or somewhat 
dentate, often angled or lobed. Flowers dicecious, in loose axillary 
panicles. Fruit nearly white, smooth. Common in open woods and 
along fences. Plant poisonous to the touch.* 
56. AQUIFOLIACEZ. Hoty Famiry 
Trees or shrubs. Leaves simple, alternate, petioled; stip- 
ules small or wanting. Flowers small, greenish, clustered or 
solitary in the axils, usually diccious. Calyx 4—9-parted. 
Petals 4-9, somewhat united at the base. Stamens inserted 
in the tube of the corolla and alternate with its lobes. Ovary 
free, 4—9-celled, with a single ovule in each cell. Fruit a 
berry-like drupe, 4-9-seeded.* 
ILEX L. 
Small trees or shrubs. Leaves usually leathery, often per- 
sistent and evergreen; stipules minute. Flowers axillary, 
4-9-parted, the fertile often solitary and the staminate clus- 
tered. Fruit a drupe with 4-9 nutlets.* 
1. I. opaca Ait. Hoxtiy. Trees with smooth, light-colored bark, 
and hard, very white wood; young twigs downy. Leaves leath- 
ery, oval or ovate, margin prickly-toothed, dark green and shining 
above, paler and sometimes slightly downy beneath. Peduncles short, 
bracted. Flowers 4-parted; staminate flowers in small cymes, the 
pistillate ones usually solitary. Fruit bright red. Damp, sandy soil 
E. and S.* 
2. I. decidua Walt. Decrpvous Hotty. Small trees; twigs smooth. 
Leaves thin, obovate, obtuse or sometimes acute at the apex, scal- 
loped, smooth, deciduous. Flowers in sessile clusters, 4—6-parted. 
Fruits very numerous, bright red. Qn low ground S.* 
3. I. verticillata Gray. Buack ALDER, WINTERBERRY. A much- 
branched shrub 6-8 ft. high. Leaves thin, oval or obovate," taper- 
pointed, serrate, 14-2 in. long. Flowers greenish-white, on very 
short peduncles. Fruit bright red, 1, 2, or 3 in a leaf axil, remain- 
ing long after the leaves have fallen, Swampy ground and damp 
woods and thickets. 
